At the start of the year, several eggs were delivered to the school and students were able to watch the eggs hatch.

Glenquarry teacher Nina Culleton said this was part of a larger project  to help students “connect with nature and become responsible, ethical citizens”.

As part of the project, children have had the opportunity to take a chicken home for a ‘sleepover’ on a weekend.

“We decided to raise the chicken from eggs so they could see the full cycle of life, have discussions about life and death and how nature works,” Ms Culleton said.

“And also to connect to [the chickens] because then they cuddle the chicken and they love the chicken and they start to then take responsibility for it because they care.”

Some of the younger students have kept chicken diaries where they recorded their observations of what the chickens did each day and what they thought would happen next.

The older students have also kept a close eye on their newest members of the school.

They have observed the chickens’ wing growth, the number of feathers they’ve grown and have also tried to guess which chickens will be roosters and which ones will be hens. Students have also been responsible for feeding the chickens, which Ms Culleton said helped reinforce the idea of responsibility.

“It’s just getting across the concept that it’s our job to care for something that we have raised just like our parents care for us.

“It’s all about that whole connection back to nature that eggs don’t come from the supermarket. They come from little chickens and they actually need to be looked after.”

The project will also involve the restoration of the chicken coop at the school.

“We’ve had chickens for a long time but we’ve had lots of foxes here and that we didn’t have enough protection in our chook house,” Ms Culleton said.

With the students living in a rural community, Ms Culleton said it helped that some students already raised chickens at home.

“They understand the concept of how it works. That’s really helped with the other kids because they’ve been leaders to them.”

Ms Culleton thanked the Highlands businesses and individuals who had helped with the project along with principal Jad Southwell who she said he been very supportive.  Ms Culleton has a background in sustainability which made her the perfect choice to lead the project.

“I really believe in community partnerships. If we all talk to each other and work together we can make the world a better place.”